A carnivorous plant supplements nutritional requirements from insects or the dung insects leave on them. Each of the 600 plus plants in this category varies slightly on how it catches and devours its prey. Some trap the insects by excreting sticky juices, which is like fly paper, and the bugs cannot escape. Once the bug is dead, the plant absorbs the nutrients from the decaying bug. Most of the carnivorous plants get their nutrients in this manner.
Normal plantsand carnivorous plantshave a lot in common. Carnivorous plants grow in boggy areas and most of the time cannot get all the nutrients they need from the soil, therefore, they get what the need from the bugs once they start to decompose. Houseplants live on sunlight, carbon dioxide, nutrients and water.
In order for the carnivorous plants to make itself into a fly trap, it will first have to sense the movement through its fine bristles on the inside of the trap. This will trigger a transfer of waterfrom the inner membrane cells to the outer. This effect is a stiffening of the “mouth petals” and that causes the trap to clamp shut.
Below you will find some examples of carnivorous plants:
• Pitcher plants are tubular and are hollow. The insect will crawl inside and get stuck in the sticky secretion and die.
• With an Aquatic Bladderworth the top half is normal, but underwater is where the bugs find their demise. When the insect tripsa sensor on itsnodules, a trapdoor opens a bit which fills it with water sucking the insect inside, where it will die.
• A Sundew looks similar to a small Koosh ball and has sticky tendrils. If you were to throw this plant at a wall, it would stick. They have “flower heads” which excrete a sticky substance and will trap the insect while it tendrils close around the prey.
